Wednesday 27 July 2022

LSARRC News 27th July 2022

Jayden and Kiefer in Crewe
 HOLIDAY time means parkrun tourism - and a new course record for one junior Lytham St Annes Road Runner.

Jayden Richardson hasn’t managed to take the record at his home parkrun yet, but he’s the proud holder of the fastest time at Queens Park junior parkrun in Crewe.  He ran 7:10 for the 2km course, with brother Kiefer finishing ninth in 9:16.

Back on home turf there was a first place finish for Alistair Leivers at Lytham Hall, running home at the front of the pack in 17:24.  Joe Greenwood was fourth in 18:48, while Jennifer Hill was second female in 22:53.  And there was a new personal best from Pamela Hardman, who finished in 25:02.

At Sunday’s Park View junior parkrun, junior Jacob Wilson secured a second place spot in a new personal best time of 7:54.  Joe Alker ran 8:05 and Jessica McNiven was second girl in 8:36.  Also running were Evie Alker (9:18), Jack McNiven (9:43), Lena Szargut (11:12), Frazer Croft (11:23) and Lewis Ames (12:07).

In competitive racing action - and on the other side of the world- Louise Burgess Cox was a pacer for the Sydney Harbour 10km, guiding runners to a 50-minute finish.

Also running at Lytham Hall parkrun were James Whittle (20:50), Neil Tate (22:16), Darran Ames (23:01), Chris Bowker (23:53), Susan Hawitt (27:30), Evie Alker (28:01) and Rebecca Willetts (28:54).

Wednesday 20 July 2022

LSARRC News 20th July 2022

Claire, Julia and Pam at Ingleborough Fell Race
 TRACK took centre stage for Lytham St Annes Road Runners in the Saturday sunshine.

The 4th meeting of the Mid-Lancs Track and Field season was staged in Blackburn, and it was another weekend, another personal best for Ross McKelvie, who ran 2:09.06 in the 800m.  He was joined in the event by Graham Webster, debutant Chris Cottam and Maddy Markham. There was also an excellent run for McKelvie in the 3000m, where he finished first in 9:35, with Cottam and Markham also running.  Cottam rounded off his first track meet by joining Webster in the 400m, and then Webster and Kirsten Burnett took to the track for the 200m, with Burnett also lining up in the 100m.

In the field events Burnett competed in shot put, while Paul McAllister took part in triple jump and shot put before unfortunately picking up an injury.

Ava Fiddler was the club's sole junior representative at the event, putting in a strong performance in her first track event, running a personal best of 2:49.3 in the 800m.

On higher, rockier terrain, were three of the club's ladies, who headed to Yorkshire for the Ingleborough Mountain Race, which is 6.8mile course with 1968ft of ascent.  Claire Markham was first down the mountain for LSARR, finishing in 1:27:27, followed by Julia Rolfe  in 1:35:49 and Pam Hardman in 1:37:14.

At Lytham Hall parkrun Mark Selby was first home for the club in 6th place in 21:02, while Catherine Carrdus was second lady in 23:00.

And on Sunday Lytham runners filled the first two places at Park View junior parkrun, with jack McNiven just getting the better of club mate Bobby Hastwell in 7:35 and 7:37 respectively – personal bests for both runners.  Ava Fiddler also ran a personal best of 8:24 for fourth place and first girl, with Jessica McNiven one place behind in 8:38.  Also representing Lytham were Reuben May (8th in 8:42), Kiefer Richardson (12th in 9:02), Joshua McAfee (15th in 9:26), Arthur May (22nd in 10:21), Frazer Croft (24th in 10:38) and Lewis Ames (36th in 12:14).

There was holiday success for juniors Joe and Evie Alker who finished first and third at New Milton junior parkrun in 8:08 and 9:16, while senior members Greg Oulton and Terry Hellings took on Downsview parkrun in Toronto – Hellings finished fourth in 26:46 and Oulton seventh in 28:56

Wednesday 29 June 2022

LSARRC News 29th June 2022

Barbara Holmes

 LYTHAM St Annes Road Runners can once again boast it is the home of a triathlon world champion.

Barbara Holmes secured the age-group world title at the Championships in Montreal not just once but twice – taking the sprint triathlon crown solo and then following it up with the first-ever mixed relay title.  Competing in the 60-64 category, Holmes completed her solo event in 1hr 17 mins and 18 secs – including 23mins 55 secs for her 5km run – and then followed it up with the fourth and final leg of the mixed relay (300m swim, 5km bike, 1.6km run) in 27 mins 41 secs.

Lytham men at Catforth

Locally a strong men's team headed to Catforth 5km on Saturday night, with Ross McKelvie leading the way with a second place finish in 15:56.  Chris Cottam ran 19:57 with Jonathan Tuck just behind in 19:59, Dan Gregson finished in 21:51, Stephen Wise in 23:19, Greg Oulton in 25:28 and Richard Storey in 25:50.

The club had four runners over in Southport on Sunday, as Fylde Coast Runners staged the town's half marathon.  Ian Tate was first to complete the 13.1 mile course for the club, finishing in 1hr 55mins and 38secs.  Next was Mick Widdop in 1:57:24, followed by Lewis McAfee in 1:58:19 and Scott Gall in 2:10:12.

Out on the Fells it was the ladies tackling the tough terrain.

Jo Goorney at The Trunce #5

Mid-week Jo Goorney headed over to Barnsley for Race five of the Trunce Fell Race Series, a four mile course with 400ft of ascent and three river crossings. Jo finished first female in 32:32.  She returned to the hills on Saturday to take on a much toucher challenge – the Lakeland Five Passes Ultra, complete with 10000 ft of ascent.  Battling sideways hailstones at the highest point of the 32-mile course, Jo finished in 8hours and 24 minutes.

And a team of three ladies entered Aggies Staircases Fell Race – Claire Markham was first home in 48:55, Pam Hardman was first FV60 in 51:42 and Julia Rolfe finished in 52:05.

At junior parkrun, a fantastic run from Jayden Richardson saw him finally break his parkrun PB at Park View, running under seven minutes to finish first in 6:57 – it was his second parkrun PB of the weekend after he ran 20:15 at Blackpool' Stanley Park event on Saturday.  Bobby Hastwell also ran a personal best at Park View to finish second in 08:00.  Also representing Lytham were William Coward (4th in 8:27), Reuben May (5th in 8:31), Kiefer Richardson (7th in 8:55), Evie Alker (9th and first girl, 9:28), Arthur May (10:32) and Lewis Ames (15:47).

Wednesday 22 June 2022

LSARRC News 22nd June 2022

LSARRC at Preston InterClub
LYTHAM St Annes Road Runners' ladies swept the board yet again as local clubs met to race this season's third Interclub.

Preston Harriers were the host for last Wednesday's race, which took place over a 3.7mile in the city's Avenham Park.  Racing against athletes from Wesham, Blackpool, Thornton-Cleveleys, Preston, Chorley and Red Rose, the ladies in green romped to victory for the third successive race.

Gill Draper at Preston IC

Gill Draper led the charge, finishing fourth lady overall in 24:22, followed by Michelle Chadwick – sixth in 24:30 – Jo Goorney in 25:30 for seventh and Jennifer Hill eight in 25:51.  Mel Koth completed the team, running 26:07 for 9th.

Ross McKelvie was the club's first finisher, fourth overall in 20:15.

The ladies' vet 40 team also performed well, finishing a close second to Wesham, with Louise Cox (13th in 27:06), Claire Markham (34th 30:35) and Ruth Williams (53rd 33:41) joining Goorney and Koth in the veterans team.

And there was a junior victory for Maddy Markham – competing while in the middle of her A-Levels - who finished 10th lady overall in 26:12.

On the track, Alistair Leivers raced in the 5000m at the Loughborough BMC meet and recorded a new personal best – winning his race in 15mins and 44secs.

Pam Hardman headed over to the North East for the 30th Durham Dales challenge – a 14 mile race which she completed in 2hrs 59mins.

And there was a half marathon for Mel Koth, who was in Cumbria for the Lakesman half triathlon.  The race is a half Ironman distance triathlon in Keswick, with a mass start and 600 swimmers all tackling the open water simultaneously, followed  by a 54-mile bike ride and a three-lap half-marathon distance run to finish.  Despite injuring herself on her penultimate lap of the run, Koth performed well to completed the race in 5hrs 50mins and 32secs – coming 251st overall and seventh V45 out of 48.

LSARRC at Freckleton HM

Closer to home, the UK's oldest half marathon was stage din Freckleton on Sunday – dating back to 1965 it has an unusual afternoon start time and while Sunday's event was by no means the hottest in recent history, the emergence of the afternoon sun added to the challenge.

Michelle Chadwick

Joe Greenwood was first back for the club and 4th overall in 1:29:42, followed by Michelle Chadwick in1:34:03 to take the prize for third lady.  Roy Stevens was third M70 (2:09:21) and Pam Binns first F75 (2:23:03).  James Whittle smashed his personal best with a time of 1:36:07, closely followed by Alex Tate (1:37:50) and Tom Howarth (1:39:53).  Also running for LSARRC were Chris Cottam (1:46:50); Chris Bowker (1:59:40); Neil tate (2:02:46), Kev Murray (2:08:24), Kirsten Burnett (2:17:53), Sue Henry (2:17:54) and Derek Appleton (2:30:46).

And in the junior two mile race there was a comfortable victory for Jayden Richardson – fresh from his first place junior parkrun of 7mins 5secs – with team-mate Ava Fiddler putting in an excellent sprint finish to finish second girl in only her second race for the club, just ahead of Georgina Andrews.

Full LSARRC Interclub results: Dom Kirby 24:40, Dominic Garrett 24:46, Thomas Howarth 25:54, Chris Cottam 25:52, James Whittle 25:55, Dan Gregson 27:20, Graham Webster 27:54, Mark Hughes 28:23, John Bertenshaw 28:49, Lewis McAfee 29:06, Steve Wise 30:23, Ian Tate 32:34, Peter Thomson 33:07, Julia Rolfe 33:56, Kirsten Burnet 34:03, Elizabeth Canavan 34:26, Catherine MacLachlan 34:49, Lia Murphy 35:31, Julie Wiseman 36:24, Pam Binns 37:33, Jacqui Murray 39:35, Sue Henry 42:29, Laura Byrne 42:30, Sarah Cook 45:55.